Black and white and read all over
May 5, 2009 at 7:39 pm | In India, comparison, internship diary, journalism, journalism ethics, newspapers, trends | Leave a Comment
So everyone’s naturally been asking what’s different about journalism in India than here in America. Well, for the most part it’s the same. There are only some differences I noticed:
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there is a clear difference in the way photojournalism is approached. In fact, I don’t think I can even call it photojournalism, because many times, newspapers don’t care to tell a story or further it with a picture. A picture is simply a colorful space filler on the page. However, since that post, I think I’ve come to understand why so many of the events covered have such bland photos.
One thing I noticed while in India is that many people consider themselves important. This idea is accentuated through the felicitation ceremonies, at which guests are shown that they are, indeed important. Thus, when its time to capture the moment on film, photographers naturally crowd around what they believe to be the most important subjects, the people, and focus their shots accordingly….and the product is usually a grip-and-grin handshake photo with the dignitary.
Journalism ethics is also a bit different, not to say that one is wrong and the other isn’t. Two different cultures, two different codes of ethics. When it comes to direct quotes, Indians are more lax about the words put in between quotation marks. I think this also stems from the fact people speak a mix of Tamil and English, so flavorful parts are selected and translated accordingly. But what would normally be paraphrased in the U.S. could possibly be found in between quotes in an Indian paper, and it is not considered unethical because the person still “said it,” in effect.
In the same way, in television media, blood, guts, and scandals sell just like in the U.S., but there’s bit more “acting” done than “capturing.” From what I gathered, this doesn’t seem to be breaking any ethical code. In fact, to tell the subjects to “do” something rather than wait for the action is almost considered a standard.
Newspapers in India are still flourishing, or at least, facing only minor cuts, because there is still a certain part of the population that is starting to emerge as literate (which was not previously the case) and it will still take some time before these people start turning to online resources for their news. In contrast, I was very depressed when I arrived in L.A. Airport and purchased a much slimmer, narrower copy of the New York Times. I was even more depressed to find the Gainesville Sun, the local paper in my hometown had followed the same format (as it is affiliated with the Times) and was reduced to a mere few pages.
I know today people find it easier to surf the web for their news and have updates sent to their email and Smartphones, but you have to agree — the content in newspapers is juicier. You get a lot more details, background information than you can with little tidbit tweets or spots on t.v. You have the chance to mull the subject over, think about what you’re taking in. There’s a certain thrill I get when I feel the weight of the paper pull apart as I open the pages in the morning to find long editorials and articles….rather than ads that take up most of the space now.
While there were only some superficial differences that I noticed about journalism in India, one this is certain: the papers aren’t facing the same dismal fate as the papers here in the U.S. and I don’t think they will unless the “recession” worsens or is prolonged. Sure, there has been some consolidation and effort to not waste space, but there hasn’t been major chopping of material or of staff.
I came back to the U.S. because my internship ended and I plan to settle here, but if journalism continues down this path, I may just have to reconsider and head back to the heat of Chennai.
Scribbed in the margin: Indians: leaders or laborers?
April 22, 2009 at 4:31 pm | In Chennai, India, brain drain, internship diary, jobs, labour, success, super power | 2 Comments
Perhaps we’ve all been fooling ourselves under the impression that India will dominate as a world super power within the next 50 years…..Some others feel India is doomed to forever remain a slave to the West.
I went to the book release ceremony today of Krishnan Arunachalam’s “Indian: An Ideal Labour or Slave.” The title itself might shock some people, but as I skimmed through the pages (just an initial glance) it seemed like the author made some good points. From the comments other readers had to say about the book too, I was convinced it’d be a pretty interesting read. Of course, I myself have still got to read it to form a true opinion.
The author thinks Indians, at the most basic level, are programmed to serve the West. He says Indians have a fundamental “psychological weakness” to please the West and be accepted. History has shown that India’s labor history “is not all that great.”
After noticing several advertisements by European companies seeking Indian employees over the years, Arunachalam was 
inspired to research the management models that place the West in superior positions and Indians in submissive, serving positions. Arunachalam’s account dates back to when Indians were traded as slaves in international markets during medieval times. However, he argues that not much has changed since then, now that “IT coolies” (*cringe* forgive me for using the term) are being outsourced in India.
Some facts and ideas that are presented in the book may be hard for many Indians to accept, but Arunachalam’s point is that today, the best of India’s IT professionals are content with working as outsourced employees in the BPO’s. This itself is acceptance of a form of indentured servitude, he says: “We are blindly proud of something that doesn’t belong to us.”
Plus, as he says, “until you recognize there is a problem, you cannot find a solution.”
Though the man who reviewed the book, M.R. Venkatesh, said the author himself provides no solution to the questions he raises, Indian Express columnist, S. Gurumurthy, noted that Indians should not completely abandon their involvement in international markets, either: “The pool of talent India has is an important medium for India to connect with the world,” he said. Instead, one guest suggest Indians become solutions providers rather than business seekers.
One thing is certain: Arunachalam stressed that the West is not to be blamed for the exploitation; Indians, he said, must change their fundamental psychology and abandon their “slavish” tendencies. Citing Leo Tolstoy’s letter to Gandhi, Arunachalam said it was the fault of Indians (200 million at the time) to have given into the clutches of the East India Company, a single commercial enterprise. Indians have only themselves to blame for their own servitude.
Along these lines, Venkatesh added that 2 % of Indians who live outside of India amass a GDP of one trillion–equivalent of the entire GDP generated in India as a whole. “It means something is not right here,” he said.
So I ended up buying the book when the function was over. (Published by Pentagon Press. Sold for Rs. 595).
I’ll keep you posted on how it really fares.
(Flickr photos by gopal1035 and harpreet thinking, respectively.)
At The Hindu: Celebrating Indo-U.S. ideological links
April 14, 2009 at 1:32 am | In Chennai. The Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., ideology, internship diary, links | Leave a CommentCHENNAI: From the Gita to Henry David Thoreau’s “On Civil Disobedience,” and from Gandhi’s salt march to Martin Luther King Jr.’s realized dream, the idea of non-violent protest to secure freedom for the oppressed is a thread that ties the U.S. and India. It is this direct link between Indian and American free thinkers that the “Journey to Freedom” exhibition celebrates.
U.S Consul for Public Affairs in Chennai Frederick J. Kaplan inaugurated the exhibition at the Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan, Anna Salai, on Monday. It explains how American transcendentalist Thoreau was influenced by teachings in the Bhagavad Gita, and Mahatma Gandhi, in turn, was able to articulate the idea of non-violent protest after reading Thoreau’s “On Civil Disobedience.”
“Until I read that essay, I never found a suitable English translation for my Indian word satyagraha,” Gandhi is quoted as saying on one of the panels on display at the exhibition.
Mr. Kaplan said that rather than being housed at a museum, the exhibition is floating to various locations around Chennai to increase the chances of passers-by haviang a look at and learning about how these countries have influenced each other.
The exhibition was set up this year to commemorate 50 years since King’s trip to Gandhi’s homeland, he said. King was greatly influenced by Gandhi’s writings, which he had read during his college days before joining the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. Despite the exhibit’s commemorative purpose, Mr. Kaplan said dialogue between India and the U.S. did not end in the 1950’s. Ideological links continue to manifest themselves even today and will only extend into the future, he said.
“Because of Gandhi, we have MLK, and because of MLK we have Barack Obama,” Mr. Kaplan said, in reference to Obama’s historical win as the first U.S. African-American president in the 2008 election.
The exhibition is open till April 29.
At The Hindu: SMARTer classrooms
April 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm | In Chennai. The Hindu, Education Plus, classroom technology, education, internship diary, math, schools, teaching | Leave a Comment
Who says toys have no place in the classroom? Today’s students could benefit from educational electronics, according to one math teacher who has seen the results for himself. Vamsi Krishna, a mathematics teacher at the Kendriya Vidyalayas Sangathan (KVS) in Sulur, says technologies used to promote project-based learning can enhance the student’s ability to apply classroom concepts to the real world. Mr. Krishna has returned to Sulur following a Fulbright Fellowship exchange in the U.S. at New Tech High School in Durham, N.C. Now, he is persuading his school administrators at KVS to purchase similar gizmos, the cost of which he says his school can easily shoulder. “The classroom tools support an environment that accommodates interactive learning rather than one-way instruction,” he says. “The Indian student can tell you everything about the quadratic equation and can solve it perfectly, but he does not actually know about its practical application.” Classrooms in India are already equipped with LCD screens, overhead projectors, and Power Point facilities, but technology can be used to cultivate interest and classroom discussions too. Mr. Krishna says, with the Geometer’s Sketchpad and remote-controlled SMART board software, teachers can manipulate graphs, equations, and data sets while casually sitting among their students, stimulating collaborative learning and analytical thinking. The Sketchpad, priced at about $1000 and licensed for use by 50 students, is convenient for teaching coordinate geometry and allows students to build and study mathematical models, diagrams, and graphs. Teachers save time drawing similar examples because Sketchpad allows them to change shapes and positions simply by dragging a mouse, while keeping in tact all mathematical relationships. Meanwhile, Mr. Krishna says the SMART board (roughly $5000) provides interactive animated word problems, among other things. For example, students visualize calculating the coverage area on Earth (a sector) provided by a certain satellite from space. Teachers can simultaneously access related reference tools — all at the click of a button (or wave of a hand). Additionally, devices such as Texas Instruments graphing calculators (the most common TI-84 Plus costs $119) can plot graphs, solve simultaneous equations, store commonly-used formulas and functions, etc. This is especially handy for students pursuing science or engineering, he says. Thus, Indian students, too, could visually relate abstract concepts to concrete applications. But trendy technology is not enough to further academics. Mr. Krishna says schools should, at the very least, gear themselves with interactive computer software that allow students to learn more on their own, with teachers as facilitators. This article appeared in The Hindu’s Education Plus supplement on April 13, 2009.
At The Hindu: Fulbight-Nehru fellowships now open to professionals
April 13, 2009 at 4:00 pm | In Chennai. The Hindu, Education Plus, Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship, internship diary, opportunity, research, study abroad | Leave a Comment
CHENNAI: The launch of the 2010 Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship Competition, which will provide Indian scholars opportunities to study, teach, research and gain professional experience in the U.S. was launched by the U.S consul general in Chennai Andrew T. Simkin recently. The Fulbright Fellowships which were once awarded only to students, professionals and academicians in the liberal arts and social sciences, will, for the first time, be offered to research and professional opportunities for scholars in the field of agriculture, business, mass communication, public administration and more through the Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships offered by the United States-India Education Foundation (USIEF). Sarina Praujape, USIEF Program Officer, said the foundation will provide fellowships to 85 scholars for the 2010 academic year, with fellowships lasting as long as two years. She said the bilateral agreement signed on July 4, 2008 not only makes India an equal partner in this program, but also allows scholars in almost all disciplines to participate. “The idea is to be more inclusive, so groups that have not participated in the past can now become a part of the Fulbright family.” Ms. Praujape said the application and programme criteria will remain the same for these newly-included fields, but once Fulbright Fellows complete the exchange, they can choose the method by which they wish to give back to their home countries. Mr. Simkin said since 1946, the aim of the fellowship program has been to promote scholarly exchange, and thus far, the USIEF has “successfully sent scholars back and forth, increasing the cultural and intellectual understanding between the two countries.” Additionally, he noted that despite the global meltdown and cutting of funding for so many programs, the funding for the fellowships will most likely continue to remain intact for the upcoming years because both countries are contributing: “In spite of budget pressures, there is a strong emphasis in diplomacy coming from both countries,” he said. Recent Fulbright Fellows also shared their experiences from abroad. Durairaj Chinnasamy, Agricultural Entomology professor at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, said his work involved finding a way to reduce insect reproduction, thereby reducing the need for insecticides in agriculture. He said he plans to implement some of the U.S. agricultural technologies here in India as well. Meanwhile, V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, Research Scholar from M.I.T., said he came to India to study Siddha Yoga and its implications with the molecular understanding of medicine that the West utilizes. He said his research could potentially drastically cut the funding the U.S. government is pumping into health care and pharmaceutical research. “The molecular age can meet the yogic age,” he said. All of the scholars agreed that their experiences through the Fulbright exchange program contributed immensely to their professional and personal lives. “Fulbright is the only organization that could have made it possible for me,” Mr. Ayyadurai said. This article appeared in The Hindu’s Education Plus supplement on April 13, 2009.
At The Hindu:Vibrance and vigor mark Baisakhi festivities
April 13, 2009 at 1:23 am | In Basakhi, Chennai, Chennai. The Hindu, Punjabi, South India, celebration, harvest festival, internship diary | Leave a CommentCHENNAI: It was more than just dhol beats that marked Baisakhi festivities in Chennai recently.
An interfaith celebration hosted by Developers India, an organization that promotes India’s development and unity, recognized the liveliness and resilience of Punjabi Sikh community, as well as the common threads that tie Punjabi Sikh culture to that of Tamilians.
Baisakhi, the Punjabi harvest festival that symbolizes happiness and prosperity, has significance all over India, the founder and secretary-convener of Developers India, Harbhajan Singh, said.
But the festival’s celebration “in the tip of India” carried an even greater message, because it represented the building of bridges between the two societies which, upon first glance, seem very different. He added that Baisakhi’s proximity to the Tamil New Year also gave it more weight in the southern State. Many of the dignitaries, alongside their Baisakhi greetings, echoed “Puthandu vazhthukkal” wishes as well.
General Commanding Officer for A TN K & K Area E.J. Kochekkan said that all Indians could follow the Punjabi example because Punjabis exhibit vigor in all aspects of life: they work hard, make merry, and are fierce fighters as well.
At The Hindu: Government follows through with bright idea
April 11, 2009 at 1:20 am | In Bachat Lamp Yojana, Chennai, Chennai. The Hindu, Greenpeace India, carbon footprint, energy efficiency, environment, global warming, incadescent light bulb, internship diary | Leave a CommentCHENNAI: It may be a small step to change a single light bulb, but a giant leap towards eliminating India’s carbon footprint: as the first step taken by the government toward fulfilling India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, the price of the Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) has now been reduced to Rs. 15, according to Greenpeace volunteers.
Commemorating the official launch of the city’s ‘Bachat Lamp Yojana,’ a campaign to replace 400 million incandescent bulbs with CFLs by 2012, celebrities, volunteers, and passers-by gathered at the Gandhi Statue on the Marina on Friday. Although the campaign was initiated by Greenpeace in 2007, volunteer Senthil Kumar said that only now the government had reduced the price of CFLs to Rs. 15, making these energy-efficient bulbs more affordable to the general public. Previously, the price of these bulbs started at Rs. 100.
The campaign aims at distributing 11-15 w CFLs at Rs. 15 each, in the place of 60 w and 100 w incandescent bulbs, which are the most commonly used across the country.
Whereas the CFLs will not be readily available in the market just yet, Finny Gerald, Greenpeace Direct Dialogue Recruiter in Chennai, said 14 electricity supply companies from 12 States nationwide enlisted themselves with the initiative to provide these bulbs to consumers.
Mr. Kumar said the CFL bulb could last up to four times as long as an incandescent bulb, and was more environment-friendly.
Thus, by phasing out the 400 million incandescent bulbs, Greenpeace volunteers predicted India would save 10,000 MW of electricity and reduce 55 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year – the equivalent of shutting down four power plants, according to Mr. Gerald.
A supporter of Greenpeace’s efforts, Bengali actor Dhritiman Chatterjee, said this initiative provided an option to those who were environmentally conscious, but had often felt helpless with regard to taking action.
“Simplicity, sympathy, and sharing: Although it sounds lofty, using these three basic principles in whatever way we think possible, we can find specific ways to reduce our daily energy consumption,” he said.
Director Vasanth, who attended the campaign, agreed that he himself takes routine steps to reduce his contribution to global warming.
“I make sure to check my tyres everyday. It’s one small thing, but I am conscious of protecting the environment,” he said.
At The Hindu: How to add humanity to health care
April 10, 2009 at 1:16 am | In Chennai, Chennai. The Hindu, Meenakshi Medical University, health, internship diary, medicine, profession | Leave a CommentCHENNAI: The human touch and sincerity of doctors that makes health care in India unique is also what needs to continue to expand, according to Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University K. Meer Mustafa Hussain.
Addressing the convocation of Meenakshi Medical College and Research Institute, Enathur, on Wednesday, he said that there is tremendous need in the nursing, physiotherapy, and dental surgery fields, and these are areas which call for the most contact with patients.
“It’s the nurses who spend 24 hours with the patient, not the medical officers,” he said, adding that patients overcome their inhibitions to ask nurses and therapists questions they would not have asked doctors.
Globally, he said there is a shortage of 10 lakh nurses and 2 lakh dental surgeons, but gradually, awareness among Indians about the importance of dental hygiene is helping the case of the latter in India.
Furthermore, the notoriety associated with self-financed colleges 25 years ago hindered their proliferation, he said. Such colleges were thought to be set up along the business ethic, that is, merely for “swelling the pockets” of the private administrators who had financed their development; but today it is agreed that self-financed medical colleges have contributed to society and its growth. Dr. Hussain said policy makers wish to see a doubling in the number of medical colleges, to provide more postgraduate seats.
“Think globally, act locally,” Dr. Hussain advised the graduates. He urged them not to stop their educational pursuits or research after graduating from medical school. “Only if you completely research, you can compete with others,” he said.
Vice-Chancellor of Meenakshi University T. Gunasagaran explained that currently, 30,000 students pass out in India every year, but there are only 10,000 postgraduate seats available in the approximately 160 medical colleges in the country.
That means the remaining 20,000 Indian health professionals should qualify themselves further in other countries, especially now that India has started recognizing some international qualifications.
He felt this is “a welcome step,” in the right direction, so Indians who complete their studies abroad can come back to fill teaching positions here.
A total of 196 received their degrees at the convocation.
At The Hindu: 7Up switches up cricket rules
April 9, 2009 at 1:10 am | In 7Up, Chennai, Chennai Super Kings, Chennai. The Hindu, Indian Premier League, cricket, internship diary | Leave a CommentCHENNAI: Thought the T-20 was as intense as cricket could get? Think again. Thanks to 7Up’s Lemon Pattalam contest, seven amateur cricketers from Tamil Nadu will get to travel to South Africa not only to watch the IPL live, but also play in a 7Up style match against the Chennai Super Kings—that means 7 balls per over and 7 overs per innings.
“It will be a challenge for fielding, but we’re turning the rules of cricket on its head,” said Alpana Titus, Executive Vice-President of Flavors, PepsiCo India.
She said the revamped rules allow players to score 7 runs as well, as 7-Up will implement an extra boundary outside the sixer range.
“This kind of stimulating cricket is what excites young people,” said CSK Director of Cricketing Operations V.B. Chandrasekar.
As if bringing Indian gully cricket to South Africa wasn’t exciting enough.
But not all hope is lost for the athletically challenged who wish to attend the match overseas, too. The “Gaana Paadu, South Africayil Aadu” contest by 7Up’s radio partner Hello FM will allow four musical winners from Tamil Nadu to cheer on the Kings and walk alongside M.S. Dhoni to the coin toss.
These contestants will have to submit team cheers to be aired on Hello FM.
Team registration for the contests, which are open to boys and girls who are above the age of 18, will begin on April 15 and run through May 3.
Teams of seven can pick up registration forms and rules at 7Up retailers.
Through inter-city matches, a champion from each city will be selected to play against each other.
Participating cities include Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tirupur, Tiruchi and Tirunelveli.
At The Hindu: Unrivaled skill of unravelling puzzles
April 9, 2009 at 1:07 am | In Aishwarya Sriram, Chennai, The Hindu, autism, internship diary, puzzles, skill, talent | Leave a CommentCHENNAI: Whether 20 pieces, 50 pieces, a 100 or a 1,000, numbers don’t matter when Aishwarya Sriram is determined to solve a jigsaw puzzle.
“Aishy can solve puzzles, but she herself remains a puzzle,” her parents, Gayatri and Sriram, say. After all, her impenetrable focus to finish puzzles late into the night is unrivaled by anyone else they’ve seen. But like many people with autism, 27-year old Aishy’s diligence is the expression of her special skills.
Autism is a developmental disorder which affects the brain. While children who are autistic usually lack social communication or interactive skills, they usually show unique abilities in other ways. For Aishy, it’s her heightened visual-spatial judgment.
Governing Body member of Vidya Sagar Spastics Society of India actor Revathy inaugurated an exhibition of Aishy’s puzzle collection here on Tuesday. Aishy’s completed works include puzzles of the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper (her favorite), and a silver KRYPT, a monochromatic puzzle which requires piecing together solely based on each piece’s shape.
“She has a photographic memory of each piece, so she doesn’t need any images to refer to,” her mother says.
When Aishy was 3 years old, her parents noticed her speech progressing slower than that of their first daughter’s. After a visit to a paediatric psychiatrist, they learned Aishy was autistic. Since then, family friends say the parents have been supportive of all of Aishy’s accomplishments, including her most ardent hobby, jigsaw puzzles.
She first discovered puzzles when she was 10, after crying for her teacher’s attention while at Vijay Human Services, a school for special children. A box of cardboard cut-out pieces fell from a cupboard, and Aishy’s teacher was pleasantly surprised to find a completed puzzle and content child upon her return.
Her parents say working on jigsaw puzzles, which started as a mere “time pass,” became an intense hobby, and now family friends from all over the world send Aishy puzzles instead of chocolates or souvenirs. Aishy’s sister, Abhirami, says the family keeps a stock of puzzles at home to quell Aishy’s spontaneous and voracious appetite for puzzles, and now, she has completed 74 puzzles to-date.
Nandita Krishna, director of the C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation applauded the family’s support of Aishy’s accomplishments through the puzzle exhibition: “Just as you would celebrate the graduation or diploma of a normal child, you should encourage and take pride in the achievements of special children.”
Ms. Krishna said she has witnessed many families in which the fathers abandon the autistic child, leaving the single mother to cope with the struggles of earning for the family as well as nurturing the child.
However, Ms. Gayatri assures that it is her husband’s commitment has been instrumental to Aishy’s growth.
“He always says these (special children) are divine souls, and God has given us the opportunity to raise such a child,” she said.
For the Sriram family, Aishy is a perfect fit.
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